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Lose the Watch!
I like watching movies that make me laugh and one of my
favorites is Wild Hogs. There is
one line at the end of the movie that sums up what road trips should be
like. Damian Blade, the character
played by Peter Fonda, and founder of the fictitious Del Fuegos told the Wild
Hogs to “lose the watch”.
If you’re like me, your days are filled with schedules. From work to school to taking the kids
to their activities and picking them up, our lives are controlled by schedules. We set schedules to manage our time,
but the reality is that in the end schedules control us and not the other way
around. To be blunt, schedules suck!
Remember when you were a kid and time wasn’t an issue? You went out to play and didn’t come in
until mom yelled that it was time for dinner. OK, I’m over 40 and that’s the way I remember it being.
Schedules are a necessary evil in life, but it’s my opinion
they should only be for work, school and taking motorcycles in for
service. For everything else,
don’t set schedules! Lose the
watch and enjoy life! Get on your
bike and go for a ride. Come home
when it’s dark or when it’s time for dinner. Stop and have a coffee, watch the clouds go by, watch people
rushing to their appointments, let life come to you. Doing this feels very wrong at first, you’ll feel like
there’s something you should be doing or that you’re being “lazy”. That’s OK, you’ve been programmed to
feel this way and it will take a while to reprogram. The more you get off the schedules, the more relaxed you’ll
feel and time will stand still.
Look at it this way; life has a beginning and an end with
living taking place in between.
So while you’re still breathing, make the decision to lose
the watch and live. Have some fun
and relax. You don’t need a watch
to let you know time is passing by.
PS: I wrote
this a few years ago following the suddenly passing of a friend from a brain
hemorrhage at the age of 43.
Gerald Trees